<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Of Fears in a Moonlit Hunt. by HellsPurestDevil</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24671440">Of Fears in a Moonlit Hunt.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellsPurestDevil/pseuds/HellsPurestDevil'>HellsPurestDevil</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fallout Vindictus [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Fear, Gen, Horror, Malefactor, Mutant Encounter, Mutant Hunting, OC-Character, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:54:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,630</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24671440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellsPurestDevil/pseuds/HellsPurestDevil</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A Introductory Piece to my new AU- Fallout Vindictus.<br/>_________________________________________________________<br/><br/>A Moonlit hunt goes awry, and sometimes you just need encouraging words to get you past your slump. But its kinda hard to have a conversation when your being stalked by the thing your hunting.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>John Hancock &amp; Female Sole Survivor, John Hancock/Female Sole Survivor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fallout Vindictus [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783843</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Of Fears in a Moonlit Hunt.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Ghoul leapt back as the wicked beast took another swing at him with its spindly fingered claw. Seeing an opening in his opponent, he retaliated with a lash from his threaded whip, ripping into the creature's mangled flesh with its razor notched whip-like cord.</p><p>The feral creature let out a shriek as the whip sliced through its body, a large bleeding gash all the mark needed before it had begun to back away from the Hunter to create some distance between them. Snapping the whip again, with obvious greenhorn-like prowess, this time to ensure the distance between him and the monster remained, the ghoul watched as the mutant stalked around the ancient dilapidated chapel, lurking its way behind one of the many stone columns that lined the sides of the building. The beast's back had been flayed, leaving its gruesome dripping skin draping over its face and neck like a macabre shawl of flesh. Yet somehow it still acted as though it wasn't in any form of pain what’s so ever, its partially obscured face remained directed at him while its lipless mouth shifted into a razor-toothed grin as it rounded the column, turning on its heels on a dime, nails grating and sparking off old discarded stone and rubble.</p><p>Sensing danger, the ghoul tightened his grip on the whip and stepped to the side just as the creature leapt towards him, barely avoiding the tips of its claws. Seeing an opening in his opponent, the ghoul took another swing with his whip. He watched the whip swing cleanly through the air, its razors glittering in the murky moonlight, as it failed to extend far enough to reach the beast, landing just in front of the beast as  it barreled its way toward the ghoul, in a mad dash. As the beast ran past him, the crazed creature pivoted on its heel and leapt once again at the Ghoul from behind, in an effort to catch him off guard. This time one of its claws sliced cleanly through the ghouls side. The tearing of tissue sent blood flying through the air, splattering against the rocky floor.</p><p>Taking another step to the side, the Ghoul reached into his pocket, taking out an all too familiar looking syringe, hastily planting its needle into his side without so much as a wince, putting an end to the bleeding. Those wounds were soon reopened, however, as the monster pounced forward and began swinging wildly at the Ghoul.</p><p>The first thing that he could feel was the excruciating pain of a claw ripping through his chest, followed by a sudden numbness in his side as its other claw nearly gutted him. Had it not been for his survival instinct, he wasn't sure if he'd have been able to leap out of the way of the third strike, which came dangerously close to slicing his throat with near surgical precision. </p><p>But as the creature rose its claws to no doubt strike just about damn well hard enough to decapitate him, the ghoul pitched heavy on his shoulder and rolled away just as the claws came down on the hard floor, successfully managing to plant themselves firmly into the ground. As the wicked beast struggled to dislodge its hand from the ground, the ghoul stood just long enough to decide that a stim was just not worth the time and effort, despite the putrid iron smell emitting from his belly. There was another smell in the air nearly double the putridness, like the smell of a rotten brahmin left out in the sun, no doubt coming from the beast itself. Without even taking the time to consider his next action, the ghoul hitched his whip across his shoulder, wincing as the broken pieces of metal that made up the spikes that lined it rope dug into his flesh. The beast had nearly successfully released itself from the ground, when the ghoul had reached from behind him and raised his shotgun and fired a shot off at the monster. </p><p>The bullet not only connected, a trail of green-blood showing a direct hit, but it stunned it as well, knocking the creature onto its side, its claws on its hand taking the brunt end of the sudden change of position, its nails breaking off from the hand, still embedded in the ground leaving it wide open for another attack.</p><p>Without hesitation, the ghoul let loose another round directly in the middle of the monster's chest, a large spray of crimson smudged lightly with green flying out into the air as the monster cried out in pain, the buckshot of the shotgun rounds boring a large hole in the middle of its chest.</p><p>It would only have taken another few shots, just a few more, but as he went to reload, the creature suddenly rolled, reared back from the blow, staggered as it was though it still managed to pull itself back onto its feet. </p><p>The ghoul watched in almost a sense of disbelief, He had fought many feral beasts in the past, but this one was more wild and unpredictable than any he had ever faced. There was no rhyme or reason to its movements, only crazed swings and chaotic lashes. But in that moment, as the beast staggered and fell over he believed victory was his, a few more shots would be all it took to bring the beast down, maybe if he was lucky enough with that new-whip he had obtained, he’d even manage to get it caught around its neck, maybe yank hard enough to decapitate the thing like it had tried to do too him. Taking every opening he could get, he swung his whip at the creature with deadly precision, ripping through its flayed skin and bringing his prey that much closer to death. He knew that if he kept this up, then the battle would be his.</p><p>As the creature reared back, throwing a mangled arm across its face to protect its delicate eyes, the ghoul took that moment to load his   shotgun, the familiar heat coming from the shells in his hand. He loaded the shotgun. This was it, This was the final blow. This would end it once and for all. Thrusting forward, he stopped just short to aim to pierce the creature's most vital organ, but the shot didn't land true. Just as he shot, the creature, at the last moment, ducked. The rounds hit the tree just behind it and as soon as they struck, the aged tree combusted, blowing up in a haze of bright orange. </p><p>Leaping back, the beast skidded on its heels with a banshee-like scream of anguish as it watched the ever growing flames strike up the tree,  before lunging forward with all of its ferocious might. Unable to move, and unable to strike back, the ghoul felt his entire body raised up off of the ground. Razor sharp teeth dug into the boney flesh of his shoulder, and suddenly the ghoul felt himself being flung across what had become the fighting arena of sorts. His back and shoulders collided heavy with a large piece of cobblestone that made up one of the ancient pillars to an old building. Wheezing and breathless, He cursed too himself, but even with his voice safe in his head it was drowned out by guttural roars and growls. Despite being in a useless, gasping heap, the ghoul still aimed the gun he kept in a death clutch in his hand as accurately enough to hit the Tall and Nasty as it barreled its way toward him again. </p><p>The first round of buck shot, this time normal rounds, hit the creature in the shin, toppling it over mid run as the rest of the buckshot entered its gut and shoulder as it rolled while the rest of the clip missed as Tall &amp; Nasty collapsed to the ground. As the ghoul waited and watched the apparent corpse for any type of movement, the beast suddenly staggered onto its four limbs. And the ghoul waited, and waited, but the creature turned on it’s heel with a squealing roar and dashed its way into the darkness of the nearby forest.</p><p>Broken and bruised, with no energy to get up and go after it, with a growing pool of red surrounding him, the ghoul flopped onto his back. He took a deep breath, and when it hitched in pain, he figured that he may have  broken a rib. With his arm curled over his aching chest, he prodded at his rib cage and instantly regretted it. “Y-yeah, that’s definitely broken,” he told the sky, his voice weak and airy as the world around him slowed down to a halt. </p><p>________</p><p>The cold embrace of death he had expected too feel, soon turned into a faint chill as the grey clouded skies of the wasteland sky came into view, No longer were his nostrils filled with the scent of blood, but instead the faint, sweet scent of dew The Ghoul could feel on the grassy ground of the graveyard beneath him. No longer could he feel the claws of the beast, instead he could feel a cool and comforting breeze on his cheek.</p><p>His ribs screamed as he pushed himself to his feet, grunting and groaning as he pulled himself up against a tombstone, resting his back against it before using it to hoist himself up, barely giving it any thought on just how he had gotten here.  Dead leaves were crushed under his weight as he limped back to the familiar cabin that rested just a ways away from the graveyard. But he found himself too tired to make it past the door, so he slumped back down with his back against the aged wood, his breath hitching as his broken ribs pitched in.</p><p>His body screamed for sleep, even as his eyelids pulled themselves down. Many of his minor wounds had healed themselves during his last dozing, so he just sat there with no worry about the possibility of potentially bleeding to death on the doorstep of some unfamiliar territory. When his body did doze, it was a light nap one he could easily wake from should he ever have too. But something in him told his body not too. So he laid there and dozed.</p><p>Too this day, the ghoul didn't know what other ghouls dreamed of, whether they, like feral's ever dream't at all. He dreamed of the same things he always had even before he was Ghoul; his parents, his old home, the endless Commonwealth lands, all the nameless faces in a surging crowd he’s probably passed by on the street. But those were nightmares most of the time, and these days they were rare. Instead he had dreams, he dream't of his new home, he dream't of his friends, of his family, of the open road.</p><p><em>He dreamed of her</em>, often more now then he did before, though he was less sure now if those sorts of dreams categorized themselves as normal dreams or nightmares, then he had been the last few weeks. His dreams of her pulled more on his chest now more than ever, since he had taken these odd jobs in parts of the commonwealth he never even heard of, far from home.</p><p> </p><p>Such as the place he now rested. </p><p> </p><p>This old cabin and the graveyard just beyond it where all part of a section of the commonwealth even he on his extensive travels, had never been too. The cabin had once been an old rangers cabin, or woodsman or whatever the hell they were called, though now it lay in ruins. The graveyard itself had not been part of the town until just a few months ago, or so he had been told, the small town that made up much of the surrounding of the cabin had been abandoned. Most of its townsfolk either moved on to greener….more diamond shaped pastures....or as the case had been the last few weeks or so, dying off due to strange animal attacks.</p><p>It had been those strange attacks that had brought him here to begin with, and while he never backed away from a challenge, he was slowly beginning to wonder whether or not he had bitten off more than he could chew. He had fought mutants before, Super mutants, feral's, the whole lot, but lately these new things, so new it was like they had come out of thin air had proven to be more than a handful. The one he had currently been facing, and was still a little ticked off he apparently lost too was just one of a number of  beings he had come across, but that was one was different.</p><p>True, the creatures he faced before were imposing, but he could at least read their movements. He could pick out their weak spots and exploit them. This thing though… It's just impossible. It was damn near impossible to read its movements. He barely could predict what it'll do next. All he could do was hope to keep it at a distance but even then, the thing was so damn fast that he could hardly react in time when it tried to close the distance between them</p><p> </p><p>But even still, he-. . .</p><p> </p><p><em> Rattling pebbles and stones </em> . Someone— <em> something </em>—coming up the dirt pathway, he could see the humped black shadow in the moonlight, but nothing else. The ghoul struggled into a sitting position. The rattling sound was closer now. He could hear a low panting sound. There was a pause then, long enough for the ghoul to wipe a thin shine of sweat off his forehead. A moment later a dark shape humped against the edge of the cut, head and shoulders blotting out the stars.</p><p>Wincing as he shifted, the ghoul reached for a pistol that was attached to his hip. The barrel of his pistol looped up and up, its gunmetal sheen catching the moon. He was ready to fire, when all of a sudden a tired vacant voice rose up from the shadow </p><p><em>"Oh put that damn thing down, you dumb-shit, it's just me</em>." The ghoul sighed, a sort of relieved annoyance, and tilted his head slightly to find the piercing grey eyes of a woman staring down at him, her incredibly vacant expression illuminated bright under the moon's shine. Sighing again, he holstered the pistol onto his hip again. "You look like shit..." Neither her expression nor her words shifted from before, but she reached into her coat pocket for a pack of stale cigarettes, before taking a seat besides him, accidentally bumping his busted ribs with her elbow in the process. Her facial expression still not changing as he flinched, but she did offer him a cigarette, then leaned her head back against the wooden frame of the old raggy door, breathing in deeply through her nostrils. </p><p>He took it, grateful for the distraction. The pain felt like hot coals burning through his body, and even though he knew it was part of the healing process, it didn’t give him any comfort. Still, he tried to joke as he lit the cigarette with shaking fingers. “More than usual, you mean?” </p><p>A sniff, “Is it even possible for you ghouls to look any worse than what you already do?…” she said, billowing smoke blowing through her nostrils, but her words held no venom, it merely took on a joking tone, though her eyes were still vacant and her tone was far too dry for it to be meant as a jab or an insult, but that didn't make her words sting any less. If anything, it only might have made them hurt worse. The woman lowered her head and looked down at her feet with an empty stare, laying her elbow on one of her boney knees, and for a while they remained in silence, leaving nothing to be heard but the faint sound of the wind and the occasional murmuring of the local wildlife currently not trying to eat them alive. Suddenly there was a shuffle followed by a sigh, and the woman was pulling herself back onto her feet, the sound of her leather boots scrapping up against old wood. Once up, she flicked away the remaining bud of her cigarette, the small amber glow hissing before dying out as it hit the cold ground. </p><p>She had expected the ghoul to follow her when she got up, like he always did, but still he remained sitting with his back up against the door, his vacant eyes staring blankly up at the moon, which now hung high in the sky, bathing everything in a nice shine of a blueish white hue. She took a deep breath, taking in a lungful of crisp night air On any other occasions, nights like these would have been soothing to her, where she could relax, maybe take Ghost on a moonlight ride and forget this hellhole of a world ever existed for a few hours. But the sudden bayful foghorn of a call that almost seemed to rattle the trees as it vibrated through the air made her realize tonight would once again not be that night. But the ghoul sitting down with his back against the door didn't seem to take heed to that fact, and made no motion to move even after the call sent chills down both of their spines. </p><p>"You should get up, Ghoul." She said to him, but she knew he wasn't gonna, she knew that vacant look in his eye all too well despite the few weeks they had known each other. He was in one of his moods again, his mind on some far off place regretting some decision he had made, and she didn’t have time for it, not when that thing was still out there. They had a job to do after all.</p><p>She cleared her throat with a slight click. “I said you should get up, Ghoul”. When the Ghoul finally turned to look at her, she expected he would stand and join her like he always had after some pushing. But still he sat and stared and only replied with </p><p> </p><p>“In a little while." Then he sighed, pressed his head against the doors aged wood. "I just want to lay here for a little while longer."</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah? And how much you wanna bet the last person who said that is currently taking up residence over there" Raising one of her hands, she pointed her thumb behind her, toward the graveyard. The Ghoul twisted his head around and saw that she pointed towards a lonely tombstone on the far end of the graveyard. The name on the marker had long since faded away, leaving it unknown to the pair just whom that person was before giving in to their fate. “So unless you wanna end up like them, <strong><em>get up</em></strong>” </p><p> </p><p>"Please, just let me rest here." He sighed, curling his knees up to his chest "I'm just… <em> tired </em>."</p><p> </p><p>With vacant eyes she stared "You're not tired…. But you may do as you wish, John . I am merely here to assist you should you need my help." The Woman's gaze shifted from the ghoul and towards the endless fog that surrounded the forest behind them, her expression remained neutral, giving no signs as to what was going through her mind. "However, I will let it be clearly known that I have no desire to see you perish here...nor do i have wishes to do so here <em> myself </em>."</p><p> </p><p>"I'm not going to <em> up and die  </em>here, if <em> that's </em> what you're so worried about." The Ghoul replied with a sudden flash in his eyes and glint in his fang, grunting and groaning as he pulled himself and shifted to a more comfortable position on the door. </p><p> </p><p>“As much as I would like to believe you, I have heard those words countless times before, and every time the men and women spoke them, they did exactly that. Given up. Not only that, but you’ve been in a slump since we left home the last time, if you honestly think I believe you-.</p><p> </p><p>"Look… I'm just…" but he didn't finish. Letting another sigh escape, the ghoul let his head fall back against the door. The woman let her eyes fall as well. He didn't need to finish, she knew where his train of thought was headed. Since they had taken these jobs, the fear weighed heavily on his mind, fears he was not used to feeling, fears he did not share with any, but were easily readable on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“I just...i don't want…”</p><p><br/><br/>She sighed, placing her hand palm up to stop him mid-sentence “Look, I will not make any false promises, not to you or anyone else. We both came into this knowing that it wasnt gonna be easy, we both knew what we were gonna get ourselves into”.</p><p> </p><p>"That doesn't make it hurt any less..."</p><p> </p><p>"No." The Woman replied. "No, it doesn't. I suppose." The woman lowered her head and looked down at her feet with an empty stare while the Ghoul looked up at the sky with hopeless eyes. For a moment they remained in silence. After a moment though, the grass around the woman's feet shifted as she lowered herself onto the porch and took a seat next to the Ghouls legs, resting back against her elbows. "Even so..." She spoke up, breaking the silence. "No matter what happens, long as you don't give up and continue forth, you can at least say you tried despite what may happen in the end.” </p><p>The woman paused for a moment, bringing her hands before her, staring into their scarred structure, old and new marring her skin. "I always found remembering the warmth of another helps me during times like this. You will always have that as long as you continue on. If you give in though, you won't ever be able to feel it again.” She clenched her hands, watched the tendons in her wrists pop, then relaxed her hands.</p><p>“Look i know your <em>sc</em>-”</p><p>She never got to finish. Halfway through her sentence, which probably would have led up to some long winded speech about morality or some shit, a loud rumbling foghorn-like call sounded through the forest, successfully cutting through her thoughts and ceasing whatever words she had planned on saying. The two of them jolted, and as the woman stood, the ghoul watched as she paled.<br/><br/>From where she stood, even with the low hanging fog still prevalent in the surrounding area, She saw the beast on the far end of the road, snarling and flaring its vicious teeth. Feeling her heart race and the blood beginning to pump through her veins, the woman prepared herself as best she could as the beast suddenly rushed towards them on all fours. </p><p>Frantically looking around her weapon she had left at the cabin when she went out scouting, she didn't see the ghoul get up, not until he was suddenly ramming into her side in a drastic attempt to push them out of the way. Like a rabid dog the beast leapt into the air just as the two of them went sprawling onto the dusty ground, while the beast itself rammed into the aged wood of the cabin, successfully taking out the decks support beams and part of the staircase along with it, splinters of trashed wood, and aged dust flying out in all directions.</p><p>“This thing just doesn't want to die does it!?!?” The Ghoul growled, both in pain from the sudden movements that exacerbated his still aching ribs, and from agitation as he watched the monster let out a growl as it began to stalk along the line of the cabin, keeping the pair locked in its gaze, the flaps of its flayed skin waving with each movement. The Ghoul growled, actually growled back at the beast, barring his sharpened teeth as his nails dug deep grooves into the earth, the woman watched with surprise, even as the Ghouls face pinched in. Whatever had happened in the forest to leave both of these individuals in their sorry states had obviously caused some beef between the two of them, if the almost cruel, sadistic glint the creature seemed to give the Ghoul, and only the Ghoul alone was anything to go by.</p><p><em>But too hell was he gonna have all the fun</em>....</p><p> </p><p>The Ghoul was still growling at the beast, when the sudden familiar warmth of a chem hit his bloodstream, burning at first, then… almost blissful relief. The pains disappeared and he turned his head to watch the rest of the slim purple syringe slip in like a knife through butter in his shoulder, the woman pushing in the plunger. He looked at the syringe then back at her, then back at the syringe, then back at her sheepishly grinned face the first true expression of almost giddy glee shown on her face. She shrugged when he raised a hairless brow at her.</p><p>“What, if we’re gonna have fun, might as well make it an even fight, wouldn’t ya say John” She said with a little toss of her head toward the beast. Hancock swallowed a lump in his throat before throwing the side of his frock open, showing her the arsenal at his disposal with a put-on smirk, the glint of his pistols gleaming orange in the light of the rising sun. Whatever fear he may have had before was still there, she knew it. But those were fears they would discuss later....</p><p>
  <em>The beast suddenly let out a ear piercing roar</em>
</p><p>....In more peaceful settings. Pulling the syringe from the ghouls shoulder, she threw it at the beast, who took no interest or heed to it when it bounced off its shoulder, only to crush it with a small pop, like it was nothing but a paper cup under its clawed hand as it advanced the pair. The beast let out another growl as it rushed the pair. Ready to meet his prey head-to-head, the ghoul whipped out his pistol, and a shot ran out as the beast made another leap at them, the aim true as the beast's left eye disappeared in a haze of greenish tinted red. Squealing in rage, the beast took a few moments to rapidly claw and rub at the gory remnants of its eye.<br/><br/>Taking a moment to formulate a plan, the woman noticed a sliver glint in the corner of her eye. Hanging, caught in a bramble bush was the familiar string of rope embedded with sharp pieces of shrapnel. Quickly grabbing it, the woman called out to the ghoul and tossed the rope to him, who caught it by the hilt. When the beast was done worrying over its lost eye, it went back on the attack only to find the ghoul waiting for it with open arms and a flung out whip. The Ghoul stepped forward into the attack, managing to just slip through the monster's claws. Lunging back, he flung his whip forward, aiming for the head. </p><p>Though the Ghoul was unsure of just how this battle would end, he knew for certain what the final outcome would ultimately be. He would defeat this beast. He would defeat it, he would kill it and he would be able to go home and finally put his fears to rest. That in and of itself, and the words told by his companion, who now aided him in battle, was all he needed to continue on. As long as he chose to endure, then there was still hope.</p><p> </p><p>But enough of that</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em> It was time for the fun. </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>